Improvement in steam-engines



crank-shaft.

UNITED STATES PATENT EETEE..

WALLACE WELLS, OF NEV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELE AND SAMUEL B.WELLS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT iN STEAWIHENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 30,030, dated Septemberll, 1860.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WALLACE WELLs, of the city, county, and State ofNewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Enginesand Machines Using Cylinders and Pistons; and I hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the constructionand operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings,making part of this specification.

The drawings show the application of my improvements to thesteam-engine.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation, and Fig. 2 a horizontal section,of the steam-engine.

The cylinder is madein any of the usual forms, with three steam-ports,two of them, A A, being at the ends, and the third, G, at the center.

There are two pistons, B B", each traversing one-half the length of thecylinder. The piston next to that end of the cylinder from which thepower is to be applied has two rods, s s, working through thecylinder-head at that cud at points opposite its center, arranged withthe usual guides, and to these rods are attached the connecting-rods DD, of equal length, which connect with the two crank-arms E E, both ofwhich are on the same side of the crank-shaft E. The other piston, B,has its rod o working through the center of piston B' and through thesame head of the cylinder, and is there attached to the connecting-rodC, which connects with crankarm II, the latter being opposite to arms EE on the shaft.

The movement of the engine thus constructed is as follows: The steam,being ad` mitted at port G, acts equally upon both pistous, driving themapart to the ends of the cylinder. It is then eut off and admitted atthe ports A A, by which the motion of the piston is reversed and therevolution of the shaft continued. The pistons move in oppositedirections with equal velocity and through equal space in the same time,each stroke or movement completing one revolution of the From thiscombination there results a reciprocating engine in which all theconnections may be made from one end of a single cylinder directly withthe opposite arms of the crank-shaft.

Among the advantages which I contemplate as resulting from thiscombination is that, as the engine exerts its power upon the oppositearms of the shaft equally and uniformly throughout its revolution, therewill be an equilibrium in the power and weight applied to the arms ofthe shaft, which must greatly increase the operative and effective powerand speed of the engine. This combination produces an easy balance orswing` in the movement of the engine which cannot be obtained from anarrangement of the connections less simple, direct, and compact. Thewhole force of the steam or other motive power is expended directly onthe opposite movable parts of the machine connected di-l rectly with thecrank-arms,so that the engine requires no external fastening or point ofresistancefor the purpose of exerting its force upon the shaft. Thiswill reduce greatly the weight and strength of material now required inthe engine and its fastenings. The advantages of this combination willbecome most apparent in marine engines.

I do not confine myself to the use of steam or any particular motivepower.

I am aware that two piston engines have been made heretofore, and I donot claim that as my invention. In all that I am aware of theconnections of the engine are different from mine, being generally madefrom both ends of the cylinder or by the aid of levers and cams and withtwo cylinders.

The invention which I claim as mine, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

The combination of the pistons with the connecting-rods and thecrank-arms or their equivalents, arranged substantially as hereindescribed.

WALLACE WELLS.

Vitnesses:

W. WELLS, DANIEL PoMEnoY.

